Door latch sticking

40cpe

40cpe

Well-known member
'55 Victoria: I drove about 30 miles on not-so-smooth roads Saturday. When I got there I had to bump the driver door pretty hard with my shoulder to get it to open. I first thought the door had become locked, but the lock knob was up. It has new latches and new strikers. The door works good in the shop. Is there a diagnosis/cure for this?
 
ck the striker plate on the jamb car may have flexed do you have any shims between the striker and jamb also try some lube wd 40 white grease hope this works
 
No metal shims, only a black insulator, looks like a cross between rubber and plastic. Should there metal shim? I'm trying to decide if it is binding up in the striker or is the latch hanging up?
 
The 55 door latchs had some problems, that's why they changed them in 56. On my bird, the striker plate on the jamb tends to move back over time. The door gets hard to shut And also hard to open. You'd think you'd see it in the door fit, but I can't. Bringing the striker plate back out and aligning it vertically solves the problem. But be the end of the summer, I'll be doing it again. Look for signs of wear from the door being low, and excess wear on the striker plate. If closing the door causes it to "rise", the wear and movement problems get worse.
 
Does the "star-wheel" on the door lock mechanism "jiggle"? If so, may need to remove lock mechanism and repair it. On the jamb side, there should be sufficient shims behind the striker plate so that the striker plate sticks out far enough to get maximum engagement of the teeth on the "star-wheel" while still allowing for enough space between the outer face of the striker plate and the door so that the door doesn't scrape the striker. The shims are made of an asbestos composite material and the screws that hold the striker should be very tight so that the striker won't move after you get it adjusted for proper door latching. lube the teeth on the striker and the star-wheel with lubriplate. give all moving parts of the latch a shot of 3-in-1 machine oil.
 
I lube the heck out of everything, use anything you want but wd40 don't stay with it long, I like the spray white lith. Spray the star wheel good and spin it quite a few times with the button pushed down. This in addition to the more important alignment as mentioned. You can hold the button down and gently slide the door closed and open to check for scraping and binding
 
I think the alignment of the striker was the problem. The outside part seems to want to get high, causing the dovetail to strike it. I realigned it and tightened it well. I've driven it a couple of times since and all seems well. Thanks for all the tips.
 
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